“U.S. spy report: Beware of Israel” was the Page One headline above an article reprinted from The Washington Post. Complaints were inevitable — and justified.
“In my youth I often heard the expression, `Figures don’t lie, but liars figure,’ ” said Lucille J. Austin of Royal Palm Beach. “The bold headline Jan. 30 reminded me of it. (The article) proceeded to tell how the warning about spies was canceled regarding Israel. My conclusion to this is that your paper approves of lying first and explaining later.”
Harold Zalesch of West Palm Beach questioned, “Why didn’t (the editors) do it this way: `Pentagon cancels report?’ ”
Said another caller: “It sounds like a newspaper in Germany during Hitler’s time, and it is very upsetting.”
Other protests reached my desk. From Judith Greer of Palm Beach Gardens: “If you don’t read the much smaller type of the sub-headlines, or the whole article, you are left with a blatant lie masquerading as truthful news.”
“On the front page it seemed to the casual reader that Israel and only Israel took advantage of its relationship with us and stole secrets,” said Hyman Balk of Boca Raton. “In the inside pages you make a more general statement by mentioning all of our allies.” Ben Cutler of Singer Island added: “Your front-page headline singling out Israel for industrial spying was a low blow….irresponsible journalism.”
“In reading the entire article I found nothing substantiates this headline,” wrote Milton Sacks of Delray Beach. “Even your subheading repudiates what could only be construed as an anti-Semitic charge.”
(That secondary headline was: “Jewish leaders criticize the report that warned Israel was `aggressively’ trying to steal secrets. The Pentagon cancels the report and blames it on a low-level employee.”)
“This was a thoughtless way to present this story,” wrote Adele Fischbein of Lake Worth. “Please print a retraction or explanation for the headline.”
Managing Editor Tom O’Hara provided the latter, saying: “There’s irony here. We put the story on the front page because the memo was anti-Semitic and therefore of particular interest to our Jewish readers. Some subscribers who complained seemed mollified when they learned The Washington Post had the story on its front page under the headline `Defense memo warned of Israeli spying; “ethnic ties” charge draws ADL rebuke.’
“The story was newsworthy and important. It belonged on the front page.
“The entire headline — including what we call the drop head — was accurate and balanced. It pointed out that Jewish leaders were upset by the memo and that the Pentagon had canceled it. However, our headline writers were unable to capture all that in the space allotted for the large-type headline.
“I wish we had used different words. It wasn’t the smartest headline we’ve ever published. But it was written with the best of intentions. It was not meant to inflame anyone. It is not evidence of anti-Semitism. I resent being called anti-Semitic, and I find it offensive that anyone would accuse my staff of it.”
My assessment: We simply blew it.
“Murder next door,” last month’s series about the shameful Denise O’Neill tragedy, was well-written and skillfully edited. But a regular reader probably spoke for others in calling it “sensationalistic.”
“What is the purpose,” she asked, “of putting this horror show in print — every gory detail?…I refuse to listen to TV news just to escape this kind of stuff.”
Mr. O’Hara answered: “More than 100 people are murdered in our circulation area each year. Each one is a horror, but some shock us more than the others. The murder of Denise O’Neill was one of them.
“I wanted some explanation for such senseless cruelty. I was never under any illusion that the stories would identify some societal flaw that we could remedy by exposing it. But I believe there’s benefit in exploring the world of Chris Caballero and his cronies.
“(The reader) said she sees enough of this on TV and in the movies. Well, that’s fiction. Denise O’Neill’s murder is reality. I think we need to try to understand it.”
